I'm the founder of WorkplaceTrends.com, a research and advisory membership service for HR professionals. I also wrote the New York Times bestselling book, Promote Yourself, and the #1 international bestselling book, Me 2.0. In 2010, I was named to the Inc. Magazine 30 Under 30 List and in 2012, I was named to the Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 List.

Maynard Webb: Rethink Your Workplace Habits to Become Successful

Later, after we acquired Digital Computer’s disk drive business, a billion-dollar business with thousands of people, I was tasked with leading the massive and challenging integration. I devised a plan, which carried significant risk and was reviewed by the board and a seasoned professional who was supportive of my approach. My boss told me that if I pulled the project off, I could definitely become a VP. The project went very smoothly. Upon completion, my boss said, ‘‘Thanks,’’ gave my team and me a bonus, and said, ‘‘I expect to promote you next year.’’ I walked out of the room in Frame 3, disenchanted for sure. I felt that I had been promised a promotion if I delivered this massive, risky project. However, what I received was little more than a pat on the back and a ‘‘You’re still not quite ready.’’ Ironically, that night I received a call from a headhunter for a VP and CIO role at Bay Networks. I left Quantum within a few months to take that job.

Later, when I became a product manager at Thomas-Conrad, I was living in Frame 4—and I knew it. I understood that at the start of a new job, you didn’t quite yet have all the tools and experiences needed to do the job well. Often, the economics are such that one needs to take a haircut financially. (I did that in a big way as I went to a white-collar job at IBM to do computer security, and where I lost overtime and other special perks that I had received as a security guard. I had to live solely on a base salary. My job content and future prospects were great as a result of the move, but my immediate financial situation took a hit, and I took a nights-and-weekend job at a department store.)

By the time I got to be director of product management at Thomas-Conrad, I was in a better negotiating position, as I had accumulated more accomplishments and gained a reputation for having a great work ethic. Still, I had never been a product manager and had a lot to learn. The CEO, with whom I had worked at IBM, was willing to pay me for my track record at producing results and for my work ethic as opposed to my current product management skills. At that point, I was in Frame 4 and worked hard to bring my skills up to speed so that my knowledge would match my compensation. I achieved this after about six months of challenging work and moved into Frame 1, enjoying working for this company and delivering results for it.

Other entrepreneurs have their own paths through various frames. Marc Benioff, the founder of salesforce.com, the most innovative company in the world according to Forbes, spent more than thirteen years as a poster child for Frame 1. He was incredibly loyal to his employer, Oracle, where he worked from college graduation and rose up the corporate ranks and was a quintessential Company Man until he had an idea that he believed in so strongly that he left the security of his executive salary and stock options behind to take a bet on it. There were times in the early days of salesforce.com—when people did not understand or accept his new idea to deliver business applications over the Internet, or in the cloud—that Marc was living in Frame 4. Marc is a visionary, and he knew where he was going (and where enterprise software was going), but his view was not aligned with the commonly held worldview. In time—and with the help of some very effective marketing and education—Marc and salesforce.combridged those gaps. Today, Marc is the epitome of Frame 2. He is pursuing his dream of being an entrepreneur, and he’s also been able simultaneously to pursue his passion for making a difference in the world through his incredible commitment to philanthropy.

Eddy Lu, the cofounder of Grubwithus, a great start-up that has created a social service to meet people over a meal, never felt content in Frame 1. In fact, he told me that he and his cofounder landed great corporate jobs out of college, but they never liked them. In looking to do something that felt more meaningful, he started to think about entrepreneurial opportunities with his roommate. Short of the big idea but long on inspiration, they quit their jobs and decided they would figure out the next right move. (Frame 4, here they come!) They tried many different business ideas and had a big dream and a lot of drive, but it wasn’t all adding up.

Living in a new city—the last franchise they opened was in Chicago—Eddy found himself alone with no family and few friends, and this was when his greatest entrepreneurial epiphany struck. Initially, Eddy and his business partner launched a social site to invite people to eat with them, and it resonated, so they built a platform to enable anyone to host a meal. (Grubwithus has deals with the restaurants and makes money by receiving a cut of the total for the meals.) They now have meals in more than fifty cities and have hosted more than ten thousand meals. Eddy started in Frame 3 (he had a corporate job, but he never liked it); spent a lot of time in Frame 4, where he had a vision but couldn’t get it aligned with the market or backers; and ultimately made his way to Frame 2, the promised land.

One of the things I appreciate about Eddy’s story is how he learned to rely on himself as he carved his path to Frame 2. (This included giving up the trappings of a steady income and even living in his car while he was raising money from business incubator Y Combinator.) I am certain he will live in Frame 2 most of the time. (Disclosure: I have invested in Grubwithus.)

How has technology made it easier to manage your life?

We all know how the Internet has changed the lives of consumers: it’s changed how we communicate, how we shop, how we meet people. It’s changed things for businesses too. How software is developed and deployed for Internet platforms is dramatically different from what it is for enterprise platforms. Historically, in enterprises, you deployed in phases over years; you had to implement your own centers and buy hardware and software up front. Now the enterprise world is moving to the Internet platform model. This is generally known as cloud computing, meaning that information is stored in online servers, as opposed to hardware on your premises. Often people talk about the cost and speed advantages of the cloud. Those advantages are real, but the greatest of them is the speed with which you can innovate once there.

In my newest endeavor, the Webb Investment Network (WIN), which invests in start-up companies, we run things entire in the cloud. Everyone who works at WIN is an independent contractor. We have an office, but we go in only twice a week; the rest of the time, everyone works from wherever he or she wants, such as hotels, coffee shops, home, or the office of one of the companies we’ve invested in. We share documents through a service called Dropbox, track action items through a service called Smartsheet, and manage our deal flow through a custom cloud application. Although we are geographically dispersed, everyone knows exactly what everyone else is working on. When we do get together in person, we are able to cover things very quickly.

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